I remember sitting in my grandparents' den watching the news that August, when Nixon resigned...I was 10, I think...the beginnings of my interest in politics...not that it is all that consuming...

Different world....even with all the politics back then....just different world now.
(except, I bet those who are kids now, hear A LOT about politics from their parents... )

__________________10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

Different world....even with all the politics back then....just different world now.
(except, I bet those who are kids now, hear A LOT about politics from their parents... )

Seriously different world then...summer days that lasted forever, counting the $ we made shoveling snow in the winter, and not having a care in the world...
then, oh hell, we had to go and grow up...
I have the best political conversations with my son now...we go out once a week to have a beer and shoot pool or throw darts or whatever, and we have somewhat differing views, but pretty damned good conversations about the state of the world...he is looking forward to Dec 21st...hahahaha...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A dozen female members of the House staunchly defended U.N. ambassador Susan Rice against Republican criticism over her remarks on the deadly Sept. 11 Libya attack, suggesting the GOP lawmakers' comments were racist and sexist.

"It is a shame that anytime something goes wrong, they pick on women and minorities," Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, the next chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus, told reporters Friday at a Capitol Hill news conference.

Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham earlier this week called Rice untrustworthy and unqualified to be the nation's top diplomat if President Barack Obama chooses her to succeed Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The two vowed to block any Senate confirmation if she is nominated.

The House women, a majority of them Africa-American, lashed out at McCain and Graham and demanded that they retract their criticism.

"To batter this woman because they don't feel they have the ability to batter President Obama is something we the women are not going to stand by and watch," said Rep. Gwen Moore, D-Wis. "Their feckless and reckless speculation is unworthy of their offices as senators."

Said Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-D.C.: "We will not allow a brilliant public servant's record to be mugged to cut off her consideration to be secretary of state."

At issue are Rice's statements in a series of television interviews five days after the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Republicans insist that she should have labeled the incident an act of terrorism rather than cite a protest over an anti-Muslim video that had roiled cities in the Middle East.

Rice said she was providing the "best information and the best assessment we have today."

"In fact this was not a preplanned, premeditated attack. That what happened initially was that it was a spontaneous reaction to what had just transpired in Cairo as a consequence of the video," she said. "People gathered outside the embassy and then it grew very violent. Those with extremist ties joined the fray and came with heavy weapons, which unfortunately are quite common in post-revolutionary Libya, and that then spun out of control."

Acting CIA director Mike Morell has told congressional committees this week that Rice was relying on an initial intelligence assessment that eventually proved incorrect.

The House women vowed to fight any effort to make Rice a scapegoat for the explanations for the attack from the administration.

Seriously different world then...summer days that lasted forever, counting the $ we made shoveling snow in the winter, and not having a care in the world...
then, oh hell, we had to go and grow up...
I have the best political conversations with my son now...we go out once a week to have a beer and shoot pool or throw darts or whatever, and we have somewhat differing views, but pretty damned good conversations about the state of the world...he is looking forward to Dec 21st...hahahaha...

That is great that you two are so close, even with differing opinions. I speak to my children too. They are still young, but they have opinions....

__________________10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

The ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee said whether or not U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice lied about Benghazi is “not an issue.”

Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.) told CNN before this morning’s closed-door hearings, at which Rice was not a witness, “to get more questions answered about this whole situation, Benghazi and some of the issues involving General Petraeus.”

Seems you get what you'd expect when the news from the closed hearing is filtered through partisan tongues:

Quote:

Lawmakers said Petraeus testified that the CIA's talking points written in response to the assault on the diplomat post in Benghazi that killed four Americans referred to it as a terrorist attack. But Petraeus told the lawmakers it was removed by other federal agencies who made changes to the CIA's draft.

Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said Petraeus said he did not know who removed the reference to terrorism. King said to this day it's still not clear how the final talking points emerged that were used by U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice five days after the attack when the White House sent her to appear in a series of television interviews. Rice said it appeared the attack was sparked by a spontaneous protest over an anti-Muslim video.

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., said Petraeus disputed Republican suggestions that the White House misled the public on what led to the violence in the midst of President Barack Obama's re-election campaign.

"There was an interagency process to draft it, not a political process," Schiff said after the hearing. "They came up with the best assessment without compromising classified information or source or methods. So changes were made to protect classified information.

"The general was adamant there was no politicization of the process, no White House interference or political agenda," Schiff said. "He completely debunked that idea."

This morning, former CIA Director David Petraeus testified to something that has been an open secret for months. The CIA knew within minutes that the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi was a terrorist act planned in advance. Mr. Petraeus also stated that the CIA report was later altered by another Federal agency.

The Democratic Party’s left-wing held a photo-op yesterday decrying the attacks on U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice for her espousal of the Administration line that the Benghazi attacks were the result of an obscure video on YouTube in the immediate aftermath of the event.

There is just a small problem with this line of defense. It is completely false. The Administration has been doing its best to obfuscate and obscure a truthful response on the Benghazi attack. For two weeks afterwards the Secretary of State, the President, and Ms. Rice knowingly lied to the American people. After these lies were exposed, the White House has been playing keepaway with the facts and the witnesses.

How do we know this? First, the New York Times offered a remarkably accurate report of the attack on September 12. A report that surely came from inside sources.

In addition, we have the President and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton implying on September 12 that it was the video and not a terrorist attack. The State Department could not move fast enough to produce and air advertisements on Pakistani Television apologizing for the video.

On September 14, the Libyan government had four men in custody according to Al Jazeera. On the 19th, the president of Libya laid out the details to that same network.

On September 24, the President appeared on “The View” and said the investigation was continuing, and did the same on “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart. The commemorative photo, run by the Washington Post, is especially offensive in light of the lies.

In his speech to the U.N. General Assembly on the 25th, the President stated “If we are serious about these ideals, we must speak honestly about the deeper causes of the crisis” while ignoring the crisis of trust at home as he ignored the real cause for the violence.

The Daily Beast had the administration dead to rights on September 26.

The election came and went and the Administration has continued to do its best to cover up the cover up. But on October 26th, Director Petraeus dropped a curiously worded statement saying that “No one at any level in the CIA told anybody not to help those in need; claims to the contrary are simply inaccurate. ” This called into question whether a rescue force was prevented from rushing to Benghazi and absolved the CIA of decision-making authority. This after the Administration did its best to pin blame on the CIA and intelligence community.

Director Petraeus statement this morning is at complete odds with the Administration’s narrative. The CIA did its job on September 11 and reported the facts as they saw them.

Someone else was responsible for editing the report. But Ambassador Rice has a very difficult position. When she was trooped out to mouth the party line to the talk shows a few days after the assault, there was only one person who was authorized to approve her talking points; the President himself.

State reports to the President. The U.N. Ambassador reports to the President. The Director of National Intelligence reports to the President. The Director of the CIA reports to the President. The buck stops there.

The President has been caught in a web of his own lies. It is now up to us to hold him accountable.

I don't know about the others, but I've been a critic of George W. Bush since at least 2005. I haven't liked a president since Thomas Jefferson.

I didn't like Bush from 2000 to 9/11. I thought he handled 9/11 as well as anyone could have so I leaned toward kinda sorta liking him. I agreed with going into Afghanistan but Iraq was so obviously bullshit that I could no longer support him in any manner. He deserved ever bit of criticism that followed.

__________________
"Attempted murder, I ask you, what is that? Do they give a Nobel Prize for attempted chemistry?"
-Sideshow Bob

"Early in life I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. I chose the former and have seen no reason to change"

"An architect's most useful tools are an eraser at the drafting board, and a wrecking bar at the site"

I didn't like Bush from 2000 to 9/11. I thought he handled 9/11 as well as anyone could have so I leaned toward kinda sorta liking him. I agreed with going into Afghanistan but Iraq was so obviously bullshit that I could no longer support him in any manner. He deserved ever bit of criticism that followed.

I was pretty young at first, so I didn't really have an opinion, but once I was old enough, I learned that almost every president has been generally shitty.